Melatonin and resveratrol alleviate molecular and metabolic toxicity induced by Bisphenol A in endometrial organoids.

Bisphenol A (BPA), a widespread environmental contaminant, poses concerns due to its disruptive effects on physiological functions of the uterine endometrium. In contrast, melatonin (MT) and Resveratrol (RSV) are under scrutiny for their potential protective roles against BPA-induced damage. For the efficacy and ethical concerns in the animal test, endometrial organoids, three-dimensional models mimicking endometrium, serve as crucial tools for unraveling the impact of environmental factors on reproductive health. This study aimed to comprehensively characterize the morphological, molecular and metabolic responses of porcine endometrial organoids to BPA and assess the potential protective effects of MT and RSV. Porcine uteri were prepared, digested with collagenase, mixed with Matrigel, and incubated at 38°C with 5 % CO2. Passaging involved dissociation through trypsin-EDTA treatment and subculturing. The culture medium was refreshed every 2-3 days. To investigate the environmental impact on reproductive health, endometrial organoids were treated with BPA (0.5 µM), MT (with/without BPA at 0.1 µM), and/or RSV (10 µM). Various molecular screening using gene expression, western blotting, immunofluorescence staining, and metabolites profiling were assessed the effects of BPA, MT, and RSV in terms of cell viability, morphology, reproductivity, and metabolism alteration in the endometrial organoids. As expected, BPA induced structural and molecular disruptions in organoids, affecting cytoskeletal proteins, Wnt/ß-catenin signaling, and epithelial/mesenchymal markers. It triggered oxidative stress and apoptotic pathways, altered miRNA expression, and disrupted the endocannabinoid system. The level of glucose, galactose, and essential amino acids were increased or decreased by approximately 1.5-3 times in BPA-treated groups compared to the control groups (p-value < 0.05), indicating metabolic changes. Moreover, MT and RSV treated groups exhibited protective effects, mitigating BPA-induced disruptions across multiple pathways. For the first time, our study models endometrial organoids, advancing understanding of environmental impacts on reproductive health.

Effects of extracellular vesicles derived from steroids-primed oviductal epithelial cells on porcine in vitro embryonic development.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) play an active role in regulating different physiological events, however, endocrine control of EVs cargo contents remain poorly understood. In this study, we aimed to isolate EVs from the porcine oviductal epithelial cells (POECs) that were primed with steroid hormones including estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P4), mimicking the in vivo conditions of the reproductive cycle and studied their effects on in vitro produced embryonic development. For this purpose, POECs were treated either with 0 concentration (control) or two different combinations of E2 and P4 including 50 pg/mL E2 + 0.5 ng/mL P4 (group H1), and 10 pg/mL E2 + 35 ng/mL P4 (group H2). Embryos were prepared after in vitro maturation either by parthenogenetic activation or somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) technique. Treating parthenogenetic embryo with EVs, led a significantly higher rate of the blastocyst formation in the group supplemented with each EVs, compared to the control group. In addition, TUNEL assay and gene expression level analysis revealed that apoptosis was significantly reduced in the H2 EVs group. Furthermore, EVs from hormone-primed POECs improved the formation rate of porcine SCNT embryos compared to the control group. While in each EVs supplemented group (control EVs, H1 EVs, H2 EVs), the expression of cell reprogramming-related genes in cloned embryos showed a tendency of increase, the effect was stronger in H1 EVs and H2 EVs. In conclusion, EVs derived from POECs cultured in hormonal conditions simulating the in vivo environment had a positive effect on porcine blastocysts formation, which will likely facilitate in the production of cloned embryos.

The combination of rolipram and cilostamide improved the developmental competence of cloned porcine embryos.

In vitro maturation of porcine oocytes is characterized by asynchronous cytoplasmic and nuclear maturation, leading to less competent oocytes supporting embryo development. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the combined effect of rolipram and cilostamide as cyclic Adenine monophosphate (cAMP) modulators to find the maximum cAMP levels that temporarily arrest meiosis. We determined the optimal time to maintain functional gap junction communication during pre-in vitro maturation to be four hours. Oocyte competence was evaluated by the level of glutathione, reactive oxygen species, meiotic progression, and gene expression. We evaluated embryonic developmental competence after parthenogenetic activation and somatic cell nuclear transfer. The combined treatment group showed significantly higher glutathione and lower reactive oxygen species levels and a higher maturation rate than the control and single treatment groups. Cleavage and blastocyst formation rates in parthenogenetic activation and somatic cell nuclear transfer embryos were higher in two-phase in vitro maturation than in the other groups. The relative levels of BMP15and GDF9 expression were increased in two-phase in vitro maturation. Somatic cell nuclear transfer blastocysts from two-phase in vitro maturation oocytes showed a lower level of expression of apoptotic genes than the control, indicating better pre-implantation developmental competence. The combination of rolipram and cilostamide resulted in optimal synchrony of cytoplasmic and nuclear maturation in porcine in vitro matured oocytes and there by enhanced the developmental competence of pre-implantation embryos.

Oviduct Epithelial Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles Improve Porcine Trophoblast Outgrowth.

Porcine species have a great impact on studies on biomaterial production, organ transplantation and the development of biomedical models. The low efficiency of in vitro-produced embryos to derive embryonic stem cells has made achieving this goal a challenge. The fallopian tube plays an important role in the development of embryos. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) secreted by oviductal epithelial cells play an important role in the epigenetic regulation of embryo development. We used artificially isolated oviductal epithelial cells and EVs. In this study, oviductal epithelial cell (OEC) EVs were isolated and characterized through transmission electron microscopy, nanoparticles tracking analysis, western blotting and proteomics. We found that embryo development and blastocyst formation rate was significantly increased (14.3% ± 0.6% vs. 6.0% ± 0.6%) after OEC EVs treatment. According to our data, the inner cell mass (ICM)/trophectoderm (TE) ratio of the embryonic cell number increased significantly after OEC EVs treatment (43.7% ± 2.3% vs. 28.4% ± 2.1%). Meanwhile, the attachment ability of embryos treated with OEV EVs was significantly improved (43.5% ± 2.1% vs. 29.2% ± 2.5%, respectively). Using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), we found that the expression of reprogramming genes (POU5F1, SOX2, NANOG, KLF4 and c-Myc) and implantation-related genes (VIM, KRT8, TEAD4 and CDX2) significantly increased in OEC EV-treated embryos. We report that OEC EV treatment can improve the development and implantation abilities of embryos.

ROCK Inhibitor (Y-27632) Abolishes the Negative Impacts of miR-155 in the Endometrium-Derived Extracellular Vesicles and Supports Embryo Attachment.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are nanosized vesicles that act as snapshots of cellular components and mediate cellular communications, but they may contain cargo contents with undesired effects. We developed a model to improve the effects of endometrium-derived EVs (Endo-EVs) on the porcine embryo attachment in feeder-free culture conditions. Endo-EVs cargo contents were analyzed using conventional and real-time PCR for micro-RNAs, messenger RNAs, and proteomics. Porcine embryos were generated by parthenogenetic electric activation in feeder-free culture conditions supplemented with or without Endo-EVs. The cellular uptake of Endo-EVs was confirmed using the lipophilic dye PKH26. Endo-EVs cargo contained miR-100, miR-132, and miR-155, together with the mRNAs of porcine endogenous retrovirus (PERV) and ß-catenin. Targeting PERV with CRISPR/Cas9 resulted in reduced expression of PERV mRNA transcripts and increased miR-155 in the Endo-EVs, and supplementing these in embryos reduced embryo attachment. Supplementing the medium containing Endo-EVs with miR-155 inhibitor significantly improved the embryo attachment with a few outgrowths, while supplementing with Rho-kinase inhibitor (RI, Y-27632) dramatically improved both embryo attachment and outgrowths. Moreover, the expression of miR-100, miR-132, and the mRNA transcripts of BCL2, zinc finger E-box-binding homeobox 1, ß-catenin, interferon-γ, protein tyrosine phosphatase non-receptor type 1, PERV, and cyclin-dependent kinase 2 were all increased in embryos supplemented with Endo-EVs + RI compared to those in the control group. Endo-EVs + RI reduced apoptosis and increased the expression of OCT4 and CDX2 and the cell number of embryonic outgrowths. We examined the individual and combined effects of RI compared to those of the miR-155 mimic and found that RI can alleviate the negative effects of the miR-155 mimic on embryo attachment and outgrowths. EVs can improve embryo attachment and the unwanted effects of the de trop cargo contents (miR-155) can be alleviated through anti-apoptotic molecules such as the ROCK inhibitor.

Vitamin C enhances porcine cloned embryo development and improves the derivation of embryonic stem-like cells.

Porcine cloning through somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) has been widely used in biotechnology for generating animal disease models and genetically modified animals for xenotransplantation. Vitamin C is a multifunctional factor that reacts with several enzymes. In this study, we used porcine oocytes to investigate the effects of different concentrations of vitamin C on in vitro maturation (IVM), in vitro culture (IVC), and the derivation of nuclear transfer embryonic stem-like cells (NT-ESCs). We demonstrated that vitamin C promoted the cleavage and blastocyst rate of genetically modified cloned porcine embryos and improved the derivation of NT-ESCs. Vitamin C integrated into IVM and IVC enhanced cleavage and blastocyst formation (P < 0.05) in SCNT embryos. Glutathione level was increased, and reactive oxygen species levels were decreased (P < 0.05) due to vitamin C treatment. Vitamin C decreased the gene expression of apoptosis (BAX) and increased the expression of genes associated with nuclear reprogramming (NANOG, POU5F1, SOX2, c-Myc, Klf4, and TEAD4), antioxidation (SOD1), anti-apoptotic (Bcl2), and trophectoderm (CDX2). Moreover, vitamin C improved the attachment, derivation, and passaging of NT-ESCs, while the control group showed no outgrowths beyond the primary culture. In conclusion, supplementation of vitamin C at a dose of 50 µg/ml to the IVM and IVC culture media was appropriate to improve the outcomes of porcine IVM and IVC and for the derivation of NT-ESCs as a model to study the pre- and post-implantation embryonic development in cloned transgenic embryos. Therefore, we recommend the inclusion of vitamin C as a supplementary factor to IVM and IVC to improve porcine in vitro embryonic development.

Oviduct epithelial cells-derived extracellular vesicles improve preimplantation developmental competence of in vitro produced porcine parthenogenetic and cloned embryos.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) carry bioactive cargoes involved in the early preimplantation development. This study investigated the effects of EVs obtained from an oviductal epithelial cell (OEC) conditioned medium on the developmental competence of in parthenogenetic activation (PA) and somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) porcine embryos. The OEC-EV-treated group showed significant increases in blastocyst formation and hatching rates compared to the control group (40.8% ± 2.2% and 20.1% ± 2.1% vs. 24.9% ± 2.0% and 5.3% ± 1.1%; p < 0.05), respectively. The 7 day OEC-EVs treatment group significantly increased blastocyst formation rate than the 3 day and 0 day-groups (45.0 ± 0.8 vs. 33.0 ± 0.7 and 26.7 ± 0.5; p < 0.05), respectively. SCNT revealed that the OEC-EV increased blastocyst formation rate compared to that of oviductal fluid EVs (OF-EVs) (35.4% ± 1.4% vs. 29.3% ± 1.3%; p < 0.05). Reactive oxygen species levels, apoptosis, and blastocyst lipid content were significantly decreased in the OEC-EVs group compared with the control group. OEC-EV group showed a significantly decreased BAX and increased BCL2, SOD1, POU5F1, SOX2, NANOG, GATA6, PNPLA2, LIPE, and MGLL gene expression than the control group (p < 0.05). In conclusion, OEC-EVs supplementation in embryo culture media improved the quality of porcine embryos, potentially helping porcine-cloned embryonic development possibly through transfer of messenger RNA and proteins to the early embryos.

The Role of Stem Cells and Their Derived Extracellular Vesicles in Restoring Female and Male Fertility.

Infertility is a globally recognized issue caused by different reproductive disorders. To date, various therapeutic approaches to restore fertility have been attempted including etiology-specific medication, hormonal therapies, surgical excisions, and assisted reproductive technologies. Although these approaches produce results, however, fertility restoration is not achieved in all cases. Advances in using stem cell (SC) therapy hold a great promise for treating infertile patients due to their abilities to self-renew, differentiate, and produce different paracrine factors to regenerate the damaged or injured cells and replenish the affected germ cells. Furthermore, SCs secrete extracellular vesicles (EVs) containing biologically active molecules including nucleic acids, lipids, and proteins. EVs are involved in various physiological and pathological processes and show promising non-cellular therapeutic uses to combat infertility. Several studies have indicated that SCs and/or their derived EVs transplantation plays a crucial role in the regeneration of different segments of the reproductive system, oocyte production, and initiation of sperm production. However, available evidence triggers the need to testify the efficacy of SC transplantation or EVs injection in resolving the infertility issues of the human population. In this review, we highlight the recent literature covering the issues of infertility in females and males, with a special focus on the possible treatments by stem cells or their derived EVs.

Cellular Therapy via Spermatogonial Stem Cells for Treating Impaired Spermatogenesis, Non-Obstructive Azoospermia.

Male infertility is a major health problem affecting about 8-12% of couples worldwide. Spermatogenesis starts in the early fetus and completes after puberty, passing through different stages. Male infertility can result from primary or congenital, acquired, or idiopathic causes. The absence of sperm in semen, or azoospermia, results from non-obstructive causes (pretesticular and testicular), and post-testicular obstructive causes. Several medications such as antihypertensive drugs, antidepressants, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy could lead to impaired spermatogenesis and lead to a non-obstructive azoospermia. Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) are the basis for spermatogenesis and fertility in men. SSCs are characterized by their capacity to maintain the self-renewal process and differentiation into spermatozoa throughout the male reproductive life and transmit genetic information to the next generation. SSCs originate from gonocytes in the postnatal testis, which originate from long-lived primordial germ cells during embryonic development. The treatment of infertility in males has a poor prognosis. However, SSCs are viewed as a promising alternative for the regeneration of the impaired or damaged spermatogenesis. SSC transplantation is a promising technique for male infertility treatment and restoration of spermatogenesis in the case of degenerative diseases such as cancer, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. The process involves isolation of SSCs and cryopreservation from a testicular biopsy before starting cancer treatment, followed by intra-testicular stem cell transplantation. In general, treatment for male infertility, even with SSC transplantation, still has several obstacles. The efficiency of cryopreservation, exclusion of malignant cells contamination in cancer patients, and socio-cultural attitudes remain major challenges to the wider application of SSCs as alternatives. Furthermore, there are limitations in experience and knowledge regarding cryopreservation of SSCs. However, the level of infrastructure or availability of regulatory approval to process and preserve testicular tissue makes them tangible and accurate therapy options for male infertility caused by non-obstructive azoospermia, though in their infancy, at least to date.

The effect of astaxanthin supplementation on the post-thaw quality of dog semen.

Astaxanthin is a member of the carotenoid family well known for its anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant nature. This study was designed to investigate the effects of astaxanthin supplementation of the extender (buffer 2) on post-thaw dog semen quality. Semen from four healthy dogs was collected by digital manipulation twice a week. The ejaculates were pooled, washed, divided into four equal aliquots, diluted with the extender supplemented with different concentrations of astaxanthin (0, 0.5, 1 and 2 µM) and cryopreserved. The results showed that 1 µM astaxanthin was the optimum concentration that led to significantly higher (p < .05) post-thaw motility, kinematic parameters and viability than the other groups. In comparison with the control group, sperm samples supplemented with 1 µM astaxanthin showed significantly higher (p < .05) sperm counts with intact membranes (55.7 ± 0.6% vs. 51.3 ± 0.9%), intact acrosome (58.4 ± 0.7% vs. 53.5 ± 0.6%), active mitochondria (54.9 ± 0.5% vs. 42.6 ± 0.6%) and normal chromatin (67.6 ± 0.9% vs. 61.7 ± 0.6%). Furthermore, astaxanthin-supplemented samples showed significantly lower expression levels (p < .05) of pro-apoptotic (BAX), oxidative induced DNA damage repair (OGG1), oxidative stress-related (ROMO1) genes and higher expression levels of anti-apoptotic (BCL2), and sperm acrosome-associated (SPACA3) genes compared to the control. Thus, supplementation of 1 µM astaxanthin in semen extender results in improved freeze-thaw sperm quality of the dog.

Effects of kinetin supplementation on the post-thaw motility, viability, and structural integrity of dog sperm.

Oxidative stress is one of the major issues associated with cryopreservation because it causes a marked reduction in the post-thaw quality of semen. This study investigated the ability of kinetin to preserve the structural and functional integrity of dog sperm during cryopreservation. Pooled ejaculates were divided into 5 equal aliquots, diluted with buffer 2 supplemented with different concentrations of kinetin (0, 25, 50, 100, and 200 µM), and finally cryopreserved. The optimal concentration of kinetin was 50 µM based on the significantly improved (P < 0.05) motion characteristics and viability of post-thaw sperm samples. Moreover, kinetin-supplemented samples exhibited significantly higher (P < 0.05) sperm counts with the intact plasma membrane, normal acrosomes, mitochondria, and chromatin than control. The beneficial effects of kinetin were also reflected by the significant increase in the expression levels of anti-apoptotic (B-cell lymphoma, BCL2) and protamine-related genes (protamine 2, PRM2; protamine 3, PRM3), and decrease in the expression of pro-apoptotic (BCL2-associated X, BAX) and mitochondrial reactive oxygen species-modulating genes (ROS modulator 1, ROMO1) in kinetin-supplemented sperm samples than in control. The results demonstrated that supplementation of buffer 2 with 50 µM kinetin is ideal for reducing the magnitude of oxidative damage during semen cryoprocessing and improving the post-thaw quality of dog semen.

Improved viability and fertility of frozen-thawed dog sperm using adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells.

Cryopreservation procedures negatively affect the quality traits of sperm, causing certain changes at structural and molecular levels due to thermal, mechanical, osmotic, and oxidative damage. The objective of this study was to examine the potential of canine adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (Ad-MSCs) for providing protection to the dog sperm against cryo-damage. Canine Ad-MSCs were selected on the basis of the significantly higher gene expression for different proteins actively involved in the cell repair including annexin 1 (ANX1), histone H3 (H3) and high mobility group B (HMGB) protein compared to skin fibroblasts. Semen was collected from four healthy dogs by digital manipulation. The washed pooled ejaculates were diluted with buffer 2 (extender) supplemented without Ad-MSCs (Control), with 2.5 × 106 Ad-MSCs/mL (Group 1) or with 5 × 106 Ad-MSCs/mL (Group 2). Group 1 exhibited significantly higher post-thaw motility, live sperm, intact plasma membrane and normal acrosomes than the other groups. Additionally, Group 1 showed significantly higher expression levels of genes related to the repair of membranes (ANX1, dysferlin; DYSF, and fibronectin; FN1) and chromatin material (H3 and HMGB). Protein expression of ANX1, H 3, and FN1 was also statistically more in Group 1 than in Control. The results confirm that canine Ad-MSCs can effectively preserve the quality of frozen-thawed sperm by a reduction in cryoinjury. At an appropriate concentration, Ad-MSCs significantly improve the quality of post-thaw dog sperm.

Mineralized deposits in the uterus of a pig without pregnancy loss.

Herein, we describe a case of uterine calcification in the uterus of a pig without pregnancy loss. The recipient underwent cloned embryo transfer and Cesarean section for safe delivery of cloned piglets. During the Cesarean section, 4 white, star-like, (2 × 2 × 2) cm, calcified structures were found within the endometrial cavity. Despite dystrophic calcification around the placenta, healthy cloned piglets were produced successfully. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of dystrophic calcification occurring within the uterus in a pregnant pig.